It’s no secret that men outnumber women in the computer science field. That fact alone often discourages women from entering the field. However, Macomb County teen Christina Li from the Utica Community Schools has set out to change the gender imbalance by creating computer science camps for girls. Her work will be honored on Nickelodeon’s The HALO Effect, a television show that highlights teens who “help and lead others” (HALO) in their community.
The all-new episode, called “Hello World,” premiers on Friday, May 20, at 8:30 p.m on Nickelodeon. The episode follows Li as she organizes and instructs a computer science camp for middle school girls in her Michigan school district.
Li started coding in third grade when she picked up a copy of HTML for Dummies and began building websites for fun. She fell in love with tech and joined her school’s Robotics Club, participating in several summer tech programs.
During one of the computer science camps she attended, Li noticed that there were only two girls present, including herself. She decided then and there to help close the field’s gender gap. She created Hello World, a computer science day camp specifically for young girls, as a result of that determination.
Hello World aims to teach programming code, web development, app and game design, and robotics through fun and immersive workshops. In recognition of her outstanding leadership and encouragement, Nickelodeon will award a $10,000 grant to Li’s camp.
During the show, Li will issue her “HALO Effect Challenge”, encouraging others to participate in her cause. As part of her challenge, Li is encouraging everyone to post a photo of their best emoji face or share a screenshot of them completing three levels of a coding game using the hashtag #HALOEffectChallenge. For more information on Li and her challenge, check out nick.com/haloeffect.